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El Salvador ( , literally meaning "Republic of the
Savior"; original name in Nahua was Cōzcatlān) is the
smallest and also the most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the
Pacific
Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras.It lies on
the Gulf of Fonseca, as do Honduras
and Nicaragua further south. It has a population of
approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on
21,000 km2. The capital city of San Salvador is, by some distance, the largest city of the
republic. In 2001 El Salvador dropped its own currency, the
colón, and adopted the
U.S. dollar instead.

History

At the time of the Spanish conquest, the inhabitants of the western
part of El Salvador, the Pipil called that
part of the country Cuzcatlan, which in Pipil
means "the land of precious things".

Spanish rule

In the early sixteenth century, the Spanish conquistadors ventured into ports to extend
their dominion to the area. They called the land " " ("Province of
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World"), which was
subsequently abbreviated to " ".

Pedro de Alvarado sent an
expedition into the region from Guatemala in 1524, but the Pipil drove them out again in 1526. In 1528 he sent a
second expedition, which succeeded, and the Spanish founded their
first capital city in El Salvador at a place known today as
Ciudad
Vieja, the first site of the Villa de San Salvador,
10 km. south of Suchitoto. This capital was occupied
from 1528 until 1545 when it was abandoned, and the capital city
moved to where modern San Salvador is today.

Towards the end of 1810, a combination of internal and external
factors allowed the Central American elites an attempt to gain
independence from the Spanish crown. The internal factors were
mainly the interest the elites had in controlling the territories
they owned without involvement from Spanish authorities. The
external factors were the success of the French and American revolutions in the eighteenth
century and the weakening of the military power of the Spanish
crown because of its wars against Napoleonic France. The independence
movement was consolidated on November 5, 1811, when the Salvadoran
priest, Jose Matias Delgado,
sounded the bells of the Iglesia La Merced in San Salvador, making
a call for the insurrection. After many years of internal fights,
the Acta de Independencia (Act of Independence) of Central
America was signed in Guatemala on September 15, 1821. When these
provinces were joined with Mexico in early 1822, El Salvador
resisted, insisting on autonomy for the Central American countries.
After minor battles the resistances were recognized in forming a
new country.

Independence

In 1823, the United
Provinces of Central America was formed by the five Central
American states under General Manuel José Arce. When this federation
was dissolved in 1839, El Salvador became an independent republic. El Salvador's early history as an
independent state was marked by frequent revolutions.

The enormous profits that coffee yielded as a
monoculture export served as an impetus for the process whereby
land became concentrated in the hands of an oligarchy of few families. A succession of
presidents from the ranks of the
Salvadoran oligarchy, nominally both conservative and liberal, throughout the last half of the
nineteenth century generally agreed on the promotion of coffee as
the predominant cash crop, on the
development of infrastructure (railroads
and port facilities) primarily in support
of the coffee trade, on the elimination of communal landholdings to
facilitate further coffee production, on the passage of
anti-vagrancy laws to ensure that displaced
campesinos and other rural residents
provided sufficient labor for the
coffee fincas (plantations), and on the
suppression of rural discontent. In 1912, the national guard was
created as a rural police force.

The coffee industry grew inexorably in El Salvador and provided the
bulk of the government's financial support through importduties on
goods imported with the foreign currencies
that coffee sales earned.

20th century

Monumento El Salvador del Mundo
(Monument to the Savior of the World)

The economy was based on coffee-growing after the mid-19th century
and, as the world market for indigo withered away, prospered or
suffered as the world coffee price fluctuated. From 1931, the year
of the coup in which Gen. Maximiliano Hernández
Martínez came to power, there was brutal suppression of rural
resistance. The most notable event was the 1932 Salvadoran peasant
uprising, commonly referred to as La Matanza (the massacre),
headed by Farabundo Martí and
the retaliation led by Martínez's government, in which
approximately 30,000 indigenous people and political opponents were
murdered, imprisoned, or exiled. Until 1980, all but one Salvadoran
temporary president was an army officer. Periodic presidential
elections were seldom free or fair, and an oligarchy in alliance
with military forces ruled the nation. However, since 1931 the
military governments or military-influenced governments favored a
policy of economic interventionism.

Opposition leader José
Napoleón Duarte (PDC) was the Mayor
of San Salvador from 1964-1970, winning 3 elections. He then ran
but was defeated in the 1972 presidential elections and faced with
widespread accusations of fraud, he fled the country.

In October 1979, a coup d'état
brought Revolutionary
Government Junta of El Salvador to power. It nationalized many
private companies and took over much privately owned land. The
purpose of this new junta was to stop the revolutationary movement
already underway because of Duarte's stolen election. Nevertheless,
the oligarchy opposed agrarian reform and a junta formed with young
liberal elements from the Army such as Gral. Majano and Gral.
Gutierrez as well as progressives such as Ungo and Alvarez. Due to
the pressure of the staunch oligarqy and the inability to control
the Army in repressing its own people because they were fighting
for their right to unionize, agrarian reform, better wages, health,
freedom of expression, this Junta was dissolved. In the meantime
the guerrilla movement was spreading in all sectors of the
Salvadoran society. Middle and High School students were organized
in MERS ( Movimiento Estudiantil Revolutionario de Secundaria,
Revolutionary Movement of Secondary Students); college students
were involved with AGEUS (Asociacion de Estudiantes Universitarios
Salvadorenos; Association of Salvadoran College Students); workers
were organized in BPR (Bloque Popular Revolucionario, Popular
Revolutionary Block). The U.S. supported and financed the creation
of a second Junta to change the political environment and stop the
spread of a leftist insurrection. Napoleon Duarte was recalled from
his exile in Venezuela to head this new Junta. However, a
revolution was already underway an his new role as head of the
Junta was seen as opportunistic by the general population. He was
unable to influence the outcome of the insurrectional movement and
this resulted in the Salvadoran
Civil War (1980-1992).

Civil War (1980 to 1992)

The Salvadoran Civil War was
predominantly fought between the government of El Salvador and a
coalition of four leftist groups and one communist group known as
the Farabundo Martí
National Liberation Front (FMLN), mainly between 1980 and 1992.
Approximately 75,000 people were killed in the war. The Salvadoran Civil
war fell into the context of the global Cold
War, with Cuba and the
USSR backing the
Marxist-Leninist rebels and the United States backing the right wing military Salvadoran
government.

Economic reforms since the early 1990s have brought major benefits
in terms of improved social conditions, diversification of its
export sector, and access to international financial markets at
investment grade level, while crime remains a major problem for
investment climate.

21st century

With the government of ARENA and the unsuccessful
attempts of the left-wing party to win an election, they decided to
change their tradition by selecting as a candidate, a journalist
instead of one of their former guerrilla leaders. On March 15,
2009, Mauricio Funes, a television
figure not associated with left-wing militias, became the first
president from the FMLN party.
He was inaugurated on June 1, 2009. One focus of the Funes
government is revealing the corruption from the past
government.

Geography

Shaded relief map of El Salvador

Beach at Playa Los Cóbanos.

El Salvador is located in Central America. It has a total area of
8,123 square miles (21,040 km²) (about the size of New
Jersey). It is the smallest country in continental America and is
affectionately called the "Tom Thumb of
the Americas" ("Pulgarcito de America"). It has 123.6
square miles (320 km²) of water within its borders.
Several
small rivers flow through El Salvador into the Pacific Ocean,
including the Goascorán, Jiboa, Torola, Paz and the
Río Grande de San
Miguel.Only the largest river, the Lempa River, flowing from Guatemala and Honduras across El Salvador to the ocean, is navigatable for
commercial traffic.Volcanic craters enclose lakes, the most
important of which are Lake Ilopango (70 km²/27 sq mi) and Lake
Coatepeque
(26 km²/10 sq mi).Lake Güija is El Salvador's largest natural lake
(44 km²/17 sq mi).Several artificial lakes were created by the
damming of the Lempa, the largest of which is Embalse
Cerrón Grande (135 km²).

El Salvador shares borders with Guatemala and Honduras.
It is the
only Central American country that
does not have a Caribbean coastline.The highest point in the country is
Cerro El
Pital at 8,957 feet (2,730 m), which shares a border with
Honduras.

Survey marker at the summit of Cerro
El Pital

Climate

El Salvador has a tropical climate
with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Temperatures vary primarily
with elevation and show little seasonal change. The Pacific
lowlands are uniformly hot; the central plateau and mountain areas
are more moderate. The rainy season extends from May to October.
Almost all the annual rainfall occurs during this time, and yearly
totals, particularly on southern-facing mountain slopes, can be as
high as 217 centimeters (85 in). Protected areas and the
central plateau receive less, although still significant, amounts.
Rainfall during this season generally comes from low pressure over
the Pacific and usually falls in heavy afternoon thunderstorms.
Hurricanes occasionally form in the
Pacific with the notable exception of Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

From November through April, the northeast trade winds control weather patterns.
During
these months, air flowing from the Caribbean has lost most of the
precipitation while passing over the mountains in Honduras. By the time this air reaches El Salvador,
it is dry, hot, and hazy.

Natural disasters

El Salvador lies along the Pacific
Ring of Fire, and is thus subject to significant tectonic activity, including frequent
earthquakes and volcanic activity. Recent examples include the
earthquake on January 13, 2001, that measured 7.7 on the Richter scale and caused a landslide that killed more than eight hundred
people; and another earthquake only a month after the first one,
February 13, 2001, killing 255 people and damaging about 20% of the
nation's housing. Luckily, many families were able to find safety
from the landslides caused by the earthquake. The San Salvador area
has been hit by earthquakes in 1576, 1659, 1798, 1839, 1854, 1873,
1880, 1917, 1919, 1965, 1986, 2001 and 2005. The 5.7 Mw-earthquake of 1986
resulted in 1,500 deaths, 10,000 injuries, and 100,000 people left
homeless.

El
Salvador's most recent destructive volcanic eruption took place on
October 1, 2005, when the Santa Ana Volcano spewed up a cloud of ash, hot mud and rocks, which
fell on nearby villages and caused two deaths.The most severe
volcanic eruption in this area occurred in the 5th century A.D.
when the Ilopango erupted with a VEI strength of 6, producing
widespread pyroclastic flows and
devastating Mayan
cities.

El Salvador's position on the Pacific Ocean also makes it subject
to severe weather conditions, including heavy rainstorms and severe
droughts, both of which may be made more
extreme by the El Niño and La Niña effects. In the summer of 2001, a
severe drought destroyed 80% of the country's crops, causing
famine in the countryside. On October 4,
2005, severe rains resulted in dangerous flooding and landslides, which caused a minimum of fifty
deaths. El Salvador's location in Central America
also makes it vulnerable to hurricanes
coming off the Caribbean, however this risk is much less than for other
Central American countries.

The
Santa Ana
Volcano in El Salvador is currently dormant, but while it
was still erupting it was very dangerous. Lago de Coatepeque
(one of El Salvador's lakes) was caused by a massive
eruption.

Economy

According
to the IMF and CIA World Factbook, El Salvador has the
third largest economy in the region (behind Costa Rica and Panama)
when comparing nominal Gross Domestic Product and purchasing power
GDP. El Salvador's GDP per capita stands at US$6,200, however, this "developing country" is still among the 10
poorest countries in Latin America.

Most of El Salvador's economy has been hampered by natural
disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, but El Salvador
currently has a steadily growing economy.

GDP in purchasing power
parity (PPP) in 2008 was estimated at $43.94 billion USD. The
service sector is the largest component of GDP at 64.1%, followed
by the industrial sector at 24.7% (2008 est.). Agriculture
represents only 11.2% of GDP (2008 est.).

The GDP has been growing
since 1996 at an annual rate that averages 3.2% real growth. The
government has recently committed to free
market initiatives, and the 2007 GDP's real growth rate was
4.7%.

In December 1999, net international reserves equaled US$1.8 billion
or roughly five months of imports. Having this hard currency buffer
to work with, the Salvadoran government undertook a monetary
integration plan beginning January 1, 2001 by which the U.S. dollar
became legal tender alongside the Salvadoran colón and all formal
accounting was done in U.S. dollars. This way, the government has
formally limited its possibility of implementing open market
monetary policies to influence short term variables in the economy.
As of September 2007, net international reserves stood at
$2.42 billion.

Since 2004, the colón stopped
circulating and is now never used in the country for any type of
transaction.

A challenge in El Salvador has been developing new growth sectors
for a more diversified economy. As many other former colonies, for
many years El Salvador was considered a mono-export economy (an
economy that depended heavily on one type of export). During
colonial times, the Spanish decided that El Salvador would produce
and export indigo, but after the invention of
synthetic dyes in the 19th century, Salvadoran authorities and the
newly created modern state turned to coffee
as the main export.

For many decades, coffee was one of the few
sources of foreign currency in the Salvadoran economy. The Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s and
the fall of international coffee prices in the 1990s pressured the
Salvadoran government to diversify the economy.

There are 15 free trade zones in El
Salvador. The largest beneficiary has been the maquila industry, which provides 88,700 jobs
directly, and consists primarily of supplying labor for the cutting
and assembling of clothes for export to the
United States.

El
Salvador signed the Central American Free
Trade Agreement (CAFTA) — negotiated by the five countries of
Central America and the Dominican Republic — with the United States in 2004. CAFTA
requires that the Salvadoran government adopt policies that foster
free trade. El Salvador has
signed free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, the
Dominican Republic, and Panama and
increased its trade with those
countries. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua
also are negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada. In October
2007, these four countries and Costa Rica began free trade
agreement negotiations with the European Union. Negotiations started
in 2006 for a free trade agreement with Colombia.

El Salvador has one of the lowest tax burdens in the American
continent (around 11% of GDP). The government has focused on
improving the collection of its current revenues with a focus on indirect taxes. A 10%
value-added tax (IVA in Spanish),
implemented in September 1992, was raised to 13% in July 1995. The
VAT is the biggest source of revenue, accounting for about 52.3% of
total tax revenues in 2004.

Inflation has been steady and among the
lowest in the region. Since 1997 inflation has averaged 3%, with
recent years increasing to nearly 5%. From 2000 to 2006 total
exports have grown 19% from $2.94 billion to $3.51 billion. During
this same period total imports have risen 54% from $4.95 billion to
$7.63 billion. This has resulted in a 102% increase in the trade
deficit from $2.01 billion to $4.12 billion.

Remittances from Salvadorans living and working in the United
States, sent to family in El Salvador, are a major source of
foreign income and offset the substantial
trade deficit of $4.12 billion.
Remittances have increased steadily in the last decade and reached
an all-time high of $3.32 billion in 2006 (an increase of 17% over
the previous year). approximately 16.2% of gross domestic product(GDP).

Remittances have had positive and negative effects on El Salvador.
In 2005 the number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador was 20%,
according to a United Nations Development Program report, without
remittances the number of Salvadorans living in extreme poverty
would rise to 37%. While Salvadoran education levels have gone up,
wage expectations have risen faster than either skills or
productivity. For example, some Salvadorans are no longer willing
to take jobs that pay them less than what they receive monthly from
family members abroad. This has led to an influx of Hondurans and
Nicaraguans who are willing to work for the prevailing wage. Also,
the local propensity for consumption over investment has increased.
Money from remittances have also
increased prices for certain commodities such as real estate. Many
Salvadorans abroad earning much higher wages can afford higher
prices for houses in El Salvador than local Salvadorans and thus
push up the prices that all Salvadorans must pay.

Demographics

El Salvador has lacked authoritative demographic data for many
years because between 1992 and 2007, a national census had not been
undertaken. Prior to the 2007 census, patterns in population growth
led many officials (including within the Salvadoran government) to
estimate the country's size at between 6.7 and 6.9 million people.
However, on May 12, 2008, El Salvador's Ministry of Economy finally
released statistics gathered in the census of the previous May.
These data present a surprisingly low figure for the total
population - 5,744,113. Challenges to the 2007 census on a number
of grounds are forthcoming.

Ninety percent of Salvadorans are mestizo
(mixed Native
American and Spanish origin).
Some report their race as being white; this population is mostly of
Spanish descent, including some of
French, German,
Swiss, and Italian descent. El Salvador is 8%
indigenous, mostly Pipil, Lenca and Kakawira (Cacaopera). Very few
Native Americans
have retained their native customs, traditions, or languages,
especially in the wake of the deliberate 1932 massacres in which the
Salvadoran military murdered
somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 peasants. El Salvador is the
only Central American country that has no visible African
population because of its lack of an Atlantic coastline and
subsequent access to the slave trade as occurred along the east
coast of the continent. In addition, General Maximiliano Hernandez
Martinez instituted race laws in 1930 that actually prohibited
blacks from entering the country at all
and it was not until the 1980s that this law was removed.

Among the few immigrant groups that reached El Salvador, Palestinian Christians stand out.
Though few in number, their descendants have attained great
economic and political power in the country, as evidenced by the
now ex-president Antonio Saca — whose
opponent in the 2004 election, Schafik
Handal, was likewise of Palestinian descent — and the
flourishing commercial, industrial, and construction firms owned by
them.

The capital city of San Salvador has about 2.1 million people; an
estimated 42% of El Salvador's population live in rural areas.
Urbanization expanded at a phenomenal
rate in El Salvador since the 1960s, driving millions to the cities
and creating growth problems for cities around the country.

In the first half of 2007 La Policía Nacional Civil of El Salvador
statistics showed lower numbers in homicide
and extortions as well as robbery and theft of vehicles.
In 2007 homicides in El Salvador had reduced 22%, extortions
reduced 7%, and robbery and theft of vehicles had gone down 18%,
all in comparison with the same period in 2006.. However in 2009,
there has been an increase in homicides and extorsions of about 30
% more than in 2008 according to some statistics

As of 2004, there were approximately 3.2 million Salvadorans living
outside El Salvador, with the U.S. traditionally being the
destination of choice for Salvadorans looking for greater economic
opportunity. Salvadorans also live in nearby Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The majority of expatriates emigrated
during the civil war of the 1980s for political reasons and later
because of adverse economic and social conditions. Other countries with
notable Salvadoran communities include Canada, Mexico, the United
Kingdom (including the Cayman Islands), Sweden, Brazil, Italy and
Australia.There is also a large community of Nicaraguans, 100,000 according to some figures, many of them
are seasonal immigrants.

Language

Spanish is the official
language and is spoken by virtually all inhabitants (some
indigenous people still speak their native tongues, but all speak
Spanish). English is also spoken by
some throughout the republic. Many Salvadorans have studied or lived in
English-speaking countries (primarily the U.S., but also Canada and Australia), including many young Salvadorans
deported from the United States, many of whom had grown up speaking
only English. Furthermore, today all public schools teach
English as a required course in both primary and secondary
school.

The local Spanish vernacular is called
Caliche. Nahuat is the indigeous language that has survived,
though it is only used by small communities of elderly Salvadorans
in western El Salvador. Salvadoreans also use voseo; referring to
the second person as "vos" instead of "tú."

Health

For the period 2005-2010 El Salvador has the third lowest birth rate in Central
America, 22.8 per 1,000. However, it has the highest death rate in Central
America during the same period, 5.9 per 1,000. According to the
most recent United Nations survey,
life expectancy for men was 68 years and 74 years for women.
Healthy life expectancy was 57 for males and 62 for females in
2003. There are about 148 physicians per 100,000 people.

Celebrated with Carnival-like events in different cities by the
large Catholic population.

May 1

Labor Day

Día del trabajo

International Labour Day

May 3

The Day of the Cross

Día de la Cruz

A celebration with pre-colonial origins
that is linked to the advent of the rainy season. People decorate a
cross in their yards with fruit and garlands then go house to house
to kneel in front of the altar and make the sign of the cross.

A day on which most people visit the
tombs of deceased loved ones. (November 1 may be commemorated as
well.)

November 21

Queen of the Peace Day

Dia de la Reina de la Paz

Day of the Queen of Peace, the patron
saint. Also celebrated, the San Miguel Carnival, (carnaval de San
Miguel) a known feast in El Salvador, celebrated in San Miguel
City, similar to Mardi Gras of New Orleans,where you can enjoy
about 45 music bands on the street.

In many communities, December 24
(Christmas Eve) is the major day of
celebration, often to the point that it is considered the actual
day of Navidad — with December 25 serving as a day of
rest.

* Almost only celebrated in San Salvador

Tourism

The only
airport serving international flights in the country is Comalapa
International Airport. This airport is located about 50 km
(30 mi) southeast of San Salvador. The airport is commonly
known as Comalapa International or El Salvador International.

El Salvador's tourism industry has grown dynamically over recent
years as the Salvadoran government focuses on developing this
sector. Last year tourism accounted for 4.6% of GDP; only 10 years
ago, it accounted for 0.4%. In this same year tourism grew 4.5%
worldwide. Comparatively, El Salvador saw an increase of 8.97%,
from 1.15 million to 1.27 million tourists. This has led to revenue
from tourism growing 35.9% from $634 million to $862 million. As a
reference point, in 1996 tourism revenue was $44.2 million. Also,
there has been an even greater increase in the number of
excursionists (visits that do not include an overnight stay).
222,000 excursionists visited El Salvador in 2006, a 24% increase
over the previous year.

Most North American and European tourists are seeking out El
Salvador's beaches and nightlife. Besides these two choices, El
Salvador's tourism landscape is slightly different than those of
other Central American countries. Because of its geographical size
and urbanization, there aren't many nature-themed tourist
destination such as ecotours or archaeological monuments. Surfing, however, is a natural tourist sector that
is gaining popularity in recent years as more surfers visit many
beaches in the coast of La Libertad and the east side of the
country, finding surfing spots that are not yet overcrowded. Also,
the use of the United States
dollar as Salvadoran currency and direct flights of 4–6 hours
from most cities in the United States are important things to note
for first-time travelers from the United States. Urbanization and
Americanization of Salvadoran
culture has also led to something else that first time tourists
might be surprised to see: the abundance of American-style malls,
stores, and restaurants in the three main urban areas, especially
greater San Salvador.

Currently, tourists to El Salvador can be classified into four
groups: Central Americans; North Americans; Salvadorans living
abroad, primarily in the United States; and Europeans and South
Americans. The first three represent the vast majority of tourists.
Recently, El Salvador is attempting to broaden its tourist base and
looking to the last group. Early indicators show that the
government's efforts are working. When comparing January-March 2007
to the same period in 2006 (most recent data available), overall
tourism has grown 10%, while from North America 38%, Europe 31%,
and South America 36%. In the fall, Livingston Airlines will
initiate the only direct flight between Europe (departing from
Milan) and El Salvador. The Decameron Salinitas, a
recently inaugurated resort, has contributed to the growth of
tourists from South America (because of name recognition of the
resort chain) and is looking to do the same with Europeans.

Tourists continue to be drawn by El Salvador's turbulent past. Some
of the latest tourist attractions in the former war-torn El
Salvador are gun fragments, pictures, combat plans, and mountain
hideouts. Since 1992, residents in economically depressed areas are
trying to profit from these remains. The mountain town of
Perquin was considered the "guerrilla capital."Today it
is home to the "Museum of the Revolution," featuring cannons,
uniforms, pieces of Soviet weaponry,
and other weapons of war once used by the FMLN's (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front)
headquarters.

Cuisine

Salvadorian woman at a food stall.

El Salvador's most notable dish is the pupusa. Pupusas are a thick hand-made corn tortilla
(made using masa de maíz or masa de arroz, a
maize or rice flour dough used in Latin American cuisine) stuffed with
one or more of the following: cheese (usually a soft Salvadoran
cheese, a popular example is Quesillo con loroco), chicharrón, and refried beans. Loroco is
a vine flower bud native to Central America. There are also
vegetarian options, often with ayote (a type of squash) or garlic.
Some adventurous restaurants even offer pupusas stuffed with shrimp
or spinach.

Pupusa comes from the pipil-nahuatl word, pupushahua. The
pupusa's exact origins are debated, although its presence in El
Salvador is known to predate the arrival of Spaniards.

Two other typical Salvadoran dishes are yuca frita and panes
rellenos. Yuca frita, which is deep fried cassava root served with curtido (a pickled cabbage,
onion and carrot topping) and pork rinds with pescaditas (fried
baby sardines). The Yuca is sometimes served boiled instead of
fried. Panes con Pavo (turkey sandwiches) are warm turkey
submarines. The turkey is marinated and then roasted with Pipil spices and handpulled. This sandwich is
traditionally served with turkey, tomato, and watercress
along with cucumber, onion, lettuce, mayonnaise, and mustard.

One of the most noticeable desserts that El Salvador has is fried
plantain, usually accompanied with beans, cream, and cheese. It is
one of El Salvador's great dishes in desserts. Although it is
recognized as a dessert, Salvadorians usually eat fried plantain as
breakfast or as a snack.

A drink that Salvadorians love is chuco, usually made out of purple
corn. Chuco is made by soaking purple corn in water, then blending
it and cooking the corn over a medium fire. The thickened drink is
called chuco. Toasted pumpkin seeds and boiled beans are added to
the drink.

Music

Education

The public education system in El Salvador is severely lacking in
resources. Class sizes in public schools can reach 50 children, so
Salvadorans who can afford the cost often choose to send their
children to private schools. Lower-income families are forced to
rely on the public education system.

Education in El Salvador is free through high school. After nine
years of basic education (elementary - middle school) students have
the option of a two year high school or a three year high school. A
two year high school prepares the student to transfer to a
university. A three year high school allows the student graduate
with a vocational career and enter the workforce or transfer to a
university as well to further their education in that field. The
national literacy rate is 80.1%

The Post-Secondary education varies widely in price. The cheapest
university in El Salvador is the University of El Salvador. The UES
is partially funded by the state yet maintains administrative and
educational autonomy. It is the only public university in the
country.